Yale to teach admin tactics to Indian leaders

University administrators cemented plans last week for a new course on higher education management to be taught at Yale — and in India.

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On Thursday, University President Richard Levin signed an agreement with two Indian universities — the Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur and the Indian Institute of Management-Kozhikode — to provide training in higher education leadership during a week-long tour of India including Delhi and Mumbai. Yale Assistant Secretary for International Affairs George Joseph, who traveled to India with Levin and will stay in the country until Tuesday, described as “University Administration 101,” will introduce Indian universities to all areas of Yale’s university adminstration, ranging from faculty recruitment to fundraising and alumni relations.

In conjunction with the two Indian universities, Yale will identify 20 to 30 leaders from India’s top universities to come to Yale in 2011 for a series of seminars led by Yale administrators, Joseph said. After the annual training sessions, some of which will be held at Yale and others at IIT-Kanpur and IIT-Kozhikhode — which are located in the north and south of India, respectively — the two Indian universities will serve as centers for higher education leadership and educate other universities in academic administration.

“Those two centers would become the building point for everything else that we do,” Joseph said.

Engaging with university leaders is the first step toward raising Yale’s profile in India, Joseph said. Partnerships with Indian universitites are critical to the success of Yale’s future research and collaboration in the country, he said, adding that those two locations will be the starting places for any future collaboration and research.

The program will build upon the two-year-old Yale India Initiative, Levin said, which, which provided a $75 million endowment to develop Yale’s academic programs in South Asian studies and increase the scale of research opportunities for Yale faculty members in India. The Initiative was designed to increase Yale’s academic and insitutional profile in India.

“It does help to present and gather some attention for Yale so it has more visibility [in India],” Levin said.

Levin said that Yale’s new project in India is modeled on another annual education partnership with China, started in 2004. Donald Filer, associate secretary and director of international affairs, said that under the original partnership with China, which is still in effect, leaders of top Chinese universities convened in New Haven or traveled to a separate city in China for weeklong training sessions with presentations from Yale administrators. But unlike the program in China, Levin said, the new program will also meet on-site at the two Indian universities.

Although the teaching seminars are the central focus of the agreement, the two new university centers will also conduct research on higher education leadership as part of the collaboration, Levin said. He added that Yale faculty with interest in India’s higher education system may join in this research. The partnership, as outlined in the “memorandum of understanding” Levin signed, will last for a period of five years and may be renewed afterward.

Levin last visited India in November 2009. His most recent visit comes only days before President Barack Obama is scheduled to travel to the country next week.